


Something else

by deutschistklasse



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Hopeful Ending, Inspired by Fanfiction, Light Angst, No Dialogue, Palace Staff POV on Zuko
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-13
Updated: 2021-02-13
Packaged: 2021-03-13 21:00:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29408028
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deutschistklasse/pseuds/deutschistklasse
Summary: The palace staff has a surprise coronation and a ball to prepare for. They just know they will be punished for their imperfect preparations. But as they hear more and more rumors about their new ruler, as they see more of him, they dare to have a flicker of hope. - Inspired by Fractures, chapter 1-2.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 82





	Something else

**Author's Note:**

  * For [EvieNyx](https://archiveofourown.org/users/EvieNyx/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Fractures](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20063656) by [EvieNyx](https://archiveofourown.org/users/EvieNyx/pseuds/EvieNyx). 



Most of the palace servants were busy preparing for the night. They were always busy, but this time their preparation had a panicky quality to it. They tidied up the ballroom and decorated the palace’s hallways in a hurry, they cooked and baked with half the ingredients of the original menu for the ball missing, and tried not to think.

They did everything they could in those few hours they had until the evening, but it wasn’t enough. They knew it, and their new Fire Lord would know it too. They knew they would be punished. But they didn’t have time for a breakdown. That could cost their lives.

Princess Azula’s coronation must have been on the next week, instead, it was moved to that very day. And what was worse, that it wasn’t Princess Azula anymore who was crowned. It was the Prince who they didn’t see for three years. Nobody knew where he was or what he was doing. But they heard the rumors. He was said to be trained by his father, Fire Lord Ozai. What did he learn? How was he as a person? They didn’t know what to expect from him, and that left them terrified.

There were new rumors too. Some of the servants and maids said that they saw the new Fire Lord. Their observation about Fire Lord Zuko was contradictory and unusual.

A maid said he let the commoners in the main courtyard. As Fire Lord, he could, of course, do that. It wasn’t even that weird. He must have wanted to show them how powerful and majestic he was. He must have wanted to show them that they weren’t defeated, that he was ready to take up the mantle and continue the legacy his father left.

They knew about the defeat of their army, of course. They weren’t idiots and they heard and saw more than the generals and council members imagined. This was one of the upsides of being invisible to the aristocrats. They always knew when somebody needed to disappear post-haste, to be sick suddenly, or needing to visit and care for sick relatives in a faraway town.

Someone said that he was always accompanied by at least three people, two scary looking guards and a servant girl. They scoffed at him. Not even Fire Lord Ozai or Princess Azula were that paranoid, even with the assassination attempts. And they were accomplished firebenders. Everybody in the Royal Family was. After three years of intensive training, how much better must Fire Lord Zuko be? But if it was true, then it would be better for their health and survival chance if no servant ventured too near without reason.

Others said he was skinny, almost gaunt. They implied he looked tired and rigid. They didn’t see him smiling once. They claimed he had bruises and scars on his arms and face. So the palace staff’s consensus was, that he really must have trained non-stop, even the day before. That could make people appear slim and rugged, and would explain the tiredness. But why the secrecy? Was he to be some weapon against the Avatar or the Earth Kingdom? That would be ideal. He could avenge their fallen leaders.

Another servant said that he was in a wheelchair. That must have been a lie, a hallucination. If not, then maybe he was so accustomed to the palanquin that he didn’t want to part with the comfort. They could understand it. Being afoot and walking all day from one place to another was tiring. The palace was big. As Fire Lord, it was his right to use the most comfortable means of transport.

Some of the younger servants said their new Fire Lord was kind. They said he asked for their names. They had the gall to lie about him using _Please_ and _Thank you_. What self-respecting noble would do that? That couldn’t be what they thought it was. The Royal Family didn’t do kindness.

Maybe as a child, he was nice to the servants but after three years of absence? After learning everything a Crown Prince must know? He must have learned how to behave properly. Fire Lords shouldn’t use words of acknowledgment for their servants. Servants were to serve and Fire Lords were to rule. That was their routine.

But all these new things made the older servants more and more nervous. As the time for the ball neared, they were considering praying to the spirits, begging for another they to live. They hoped against hope that Fire Lord Zuko wouldn’t find their imperfect preparations too offensive and would be merciful, giving them another chance to prove their usefulness. The more fortunate could leave the palace for the party in the streets. They offered their sympathies to the unlucky people on duty, then escaped.

When the ball began, the servants were ready to make everything in their power to please their new monarch. Of course, all of them were in for a surprise. Their Fire Lord was something else.

Those staying in the palace saw him defend one of the servant girls against a noble. They struggled to understand why he would do that. What would he gain from it? Was he really somebody who saw them as worth saving from harm? Was he really seeing them, thinking about them as part of his household? As people, not objects? They tried to realign their image of him and dared to breathe a bit lighter. Maybe this was a fluke but it made them grateful.

Those in the streets saw their Fire Lord talking with a child and not punishing her for her insolence. They saw him eating their food and enjoying their feast. Some of them even pinched themselves, but it wasn’t an illusion. Fire Lord Zuko really was among them. They couldn’t wait to talk to the others in the palace. Maybe, just maybe they had a ruler they could respect without extreme fear. His actions there gave them hope.


End file.
